2008 Ex Award Winners: Best Production Of An Event (B-to-B)

Best Production Of An Event (B-to-B)

Ex Award
Campaign: Annual Shareholders Meeting
Client: Wal-Mart
Agency: TBA Global

When you’re numero uno on the Fortune 500 list your annual shareholder’s meeting had better be pretty friggin’ good. This year Wal-Mart delivered. Big W skipped the elaborate Broadway-style musical numbers and instead tried a new approach to its mission–critical annual meeting. We called it “Funny bones heartstrings and rock stars.” They um didn’t call it that. But the point is the Mart put on a show that did the near impossible: appealed to 6 000 employees and more than 9 000 shareholders analysts and press—all at the same time.

Audience interaction was a key piece of the strategy so the brand created a program that enabled a dialogue between the audience and the on-stage talent. For the four-hour employee day event on May 31 stars of the ABC TV show “Whose Line Is It Anyway ” Colin Mochre and Brad Sherwood kicked off the day’s program then reappeared throughout the morning sprinkling improv segments between division updates reports and motivational speeches. Wal-Mart associates were brought on stage for the short comedy skits and Mochre and Sherwood expertly wove in internal jokes that resonated with the crowd.

For Friday’s shareholder’s event entertainer Sinbad emceed and mixed live on-stage bits with short documentary-style sketches featuring the comedian at his local Wal-Mart store. Sinbad’s affable everyman quality enabled the brand to poke fun at itself its competition and its critics striking a perfect balance with more serious agenda items like the company’s financial reports.
The event’s main theme was the common thread connecting content together and helping keep focus on the positives like $4 prescriptions energy-saving light bulbs and a new Dell partnership.

“One of the keys was coming up with an overarching theme and then sticking to that theme ” says Mark Henneberger vp-shows and events at Wal-Mart. “‘Saving people money so they can live better’ really is a rallying cry for the company but actually allowed us to be really focused in how we approached everything we did for the entire week. I think that was one of the keys to our success.”

Back-to-back mini-concerts served as morale-boosting entertainment plus previews to upcoming in-store CD promotions. The Eagles Gretchen Wilson Fall Out Boy and Jennifer Lopez to name a few all performed at the event. “From a technical perspective being able to make that transition [between acts] and make it seamless was probably our biggest accomplishment ” says Henneberger.

The event may have been held in a college gym but the rotating stage and one-of-a-kind backdrop was worthy of a U2 concert. TBA Global created a 100-foot wide 18-foot high custom LED image system—one of the largest ever constructed for a corporate event. In Fayetteville AR people.

Created from contract to show date in just seven weeks “pretty extraordinary in itself ” Henneberger says and to the delight of everyone from buttoned-up bankers to feisty employees shedding the polyester vests for a few days Wal-Mart’s annual “window to the world” was a rockin’ success.


Gold Award
Campaign: Game On Sales Kick-Off Conference
Client: BT Global Services UK
Agency: George P. Johnson

To keep its employees in the loop after a period of internal change and restructuring BT Global Services UK gathered all its troops at the Game On Sales Kick-Off Conference last June. The theme Game On reinforced the global communications provider’s vision of not only being in the game but also defining it. The Game On concept was infused into every part of the program including content creative communications and entertainment leading up to the event.

On event day 1 800 attendees were treated to a spectacle of holographic communications technology choreographed to executive presentations technology demonstrations and performance awards programs. The color show was achieved via a Pepper’s Ghost screen. In this optical illusion presenters stood behind the screen and interacted with a larger than life 3-D video graphic. Visual elements seemed to simply appear in mid air morph and then vanish when the presentation was over.

When motivational speaker Dame Ellen McArthur spoke she was surrounded by 3D footage that made it appear as if she were actually sailing complete with the sounds of crashing waves and wind echoing to give the audience a taste of the adventure. By mixing the virtual and physical worlds BT’s message of technological innovation came through.

Post-event surveys proved the event was a success. Attendees gave it an 8.21 out of 10 when asked if it succeeded in celebrating the success achieved by the BT sales team an 8.22 out of 10 when asked if it inspired and motivated an 8.42 out of 10 when asked if it demonstrated and articulated the BTGS vision business strategy and future propositions and solutions and an 8.57 out of 10 when asked if it delivered a unique experience.


Silver Award
Campaign: North American Divisions Meeting
Client: John Deere
Agency: See Our Solutions

John Deere pulled out all the stops for its North American Divisions Meeting putting together a presentation chock full of high production value and glamour. On the meeting’s opening day more than 50 products were introduced through a dramatic fashion show that combined six projection zones four tunnels two proscenium stages moving spotlight chandeliers and a hidden catwalk system for quick entrances and exits. To open the show riding lawnmowers and entertainers soared onto center stage from above the audience. The finale was even more dramatic: Four 40-foot combines drove on stage through giant proscenium arches and came within a few feet of the audience. After the finale the audience exited via the proscenium under the performer’s bridge and entered a more traditional trade show environment where they could spend time examining the products that had just been presented.

Over the next day and a half the dealers attended classes to learn more about the new products and were also given the opportunity to ride and drive at an outdoor field site.

The presentation was a hit with attendees with 68 percent of respondents giving the event an overall rating of four (Very Good) or five (Excellent). Forty-five percent of respondents rated the strategic review session as “very good” or “excellent” and four out of five rated the opening sessions as “valuable” or “very valuable.”